Christian Mercy Explained & Enforced 3

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III. I go on to consider the OBJECTS of Christian Mercy. And I am sure no one will accuse me of degrading the subject, if, for a few moments, I urge the claims of that large portion of the animate creation to which Providence has denied the power of pleading its own cause. Oh! there is a depth of cowardice, cruelty, and injustice in inflicting misery upon an irrational brute, deprived of all means of resistance and all power of complaint, except by its quivering flesh and screaming cries, for which language is too feeble to furnish execrations sufficiently emphatic.

Let me never fall into the hands, or be at the mercy of that man, who, whatever may be his pretensions or his character, would wantonly inflict a pang on the least and lowest insect in the scale of life. Man is, or ought to be, the guardian of the rights of the irrational creation; but, lest he should be unfaithful to his trust, the great God has interposed his authority, and raised a causeless injury of any of his creatures into a crime against their Almighty Creator. Remember, then, that "a merciful man is merciful to his animal."

But the chief object of mercy—is MAN.

1. With regard to his TEMPORAL wants and woes. Innumerable are "the ills which flesh is heir to" in this valley of tears. Poverty, sickness, hunger, nakedness, toil—all, like roots of bitterness, spring up along the road which conducts us to the grave. And all, the merciful man, to the utmost of his power, will endeavor to repress or eradicate. He will not hide himself from such sorrows. His own comforts will remind him of the necessities of others.

A sense of the woes by which he is surrounded, will reach him at the center of that wide circle of plenty within which he dwells, and will not allow him to enjoy what Providence has given him, until, with no scanty hand, he has administered to their relief. He will remember that others are men of like passions with himself, and that if with so many comforts to sweeten the cup of life, he so often tastes the wormwood and the gall—their portion must be wretched indeed, to whom, but for the aid of mercy, the draught must be unmingled bitterness.

It has been adopted as a maxim by some good, but mistaken people, that as "the children of the world" devote all their charity to the temporal wants of mankind, "the children of light "should exclusively employ theirs for the spiritual interests of the human race. This appears to me a most erroneous sentiment, and highly derogatory to the honor of religion. We are "to let our light so shine before men, that they, seeing our good works, may glorify God, our heavenly Father." One way of exhibiting the splendor of this holy light, is by excelling in those virtues, the excellences of which are perceived, and the obligations of which are felt, by the people of the world. Zeal for the diffusion of the gospel is, by many, considered only as fanaticism. But mercy to temporal needs, is acknowledged by all to be a necessary Christian virtue.

Besides, our motives will be mistaken if we abandon the temporal miseries of mankind; for men will be at a loss to conceive how they can have mercy for the soul—who appear to have none for the body; and how they can feel compassion for strangers whom they have not seen—who are destitute of it towards their neighbors whom they have seen. In the absence of mercy for the temporal miseries of mankind—all our solicitude for their spiritual interests will be resolved into disgusting hypocrisy, which, under pretense of compassion, is carrying on the purposes of mere sectarianism. The advocate of Missionary and Bible Societies should be foremost in the work of clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and healing the sick. The conduct of our Redeemer is an admirable model in this respect. His identifying character is the Savior of souls; but how diligent he was in relieving temporal needs, let the history of his life declare.

2. Christian Mercy extends its regard to the SPIRITUAL miseries of mankind. The man who believes the Gospel realizes that the whole human race in a state of sin and ruin; suffering all the consequences of sin in this world—and exposed to the bitter pains of eternal death in the world to come. He is convinced that without a fitness for the pure and spiritual joys of heaven, not one individual of all the millions who are continually passing into eternity, can ascend to the realms of glory and felicity. They appear, in his eyes, to be actually perishing, and hence he is filled with the tenderest concern, and affected with the deepest sorrow. In his estimation, the most agonizing diseases, the most pinching poverty, the greatest deprivation, and the heaviest cares—are as nothing, compared with those miseries which sin has brought upon the deathless soul. With all the compassion which he feels for the body, he cannot forget, that if it were not relieved, the grave would soon terminate its woes; but that the soul, if not saved, would become immortal in its suffering and wretchedness.

This makes him not only willing, but anxious to support every scheme, which has for its object to extend the light of divine truth to those who sit in darkness and the region of the shadow of death. Often he surveys, from his own happy elevation on the hill of Zion, the countless millions that crowd the realms of Paganism and Islamism, until his heart yearning with compassion, dictates to his tongue the prayer of the Psalmist, "God be merciful unto us and bless us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving health among all nations." Nor is he content with expressing his mercy by prayers. He cannot withhold his property, while every breeze and every wave that touches upon our shore wafts to it from the dark places of the earth that heart-rending petition, "Come over and help us!"

Yes, 'mercy to the soul' is the 'soul of mercy'. This is its sublimest, its mightiest effort. It supplies needs, and alleviates woes, which would otherwise be eternal. A missionary society, or a Bible society, is the highest exhibition of benevolence that can be witnessed below the skies. Its provisions and outcomes will be everlasting, and the grandeur of its results be seen infinite ages after the hospital, the dispensary, and the alms-house shall have sent forth their last stream of healing. Mercy to the soul raises its subject into the nearest resemblance of Jehovah. It is, in fact, "to have fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ."

The human spirit seems to occupy the center of the divine government, around which the plans and purposes of Deity are perpetually revolving; and the chief end of all their mighty movements is to glorify God in the salvation of man. Who, then, would exclude the soul from the sphere of his compassion? Let us not forget to do good in relieving the temporal needs of our fellow-creatures, but in the exercise of a still holier and loftier ambition, let us aim at the honor of saving the soul. An infinitely richer and more lasting renown will follow such an achievement than the civic crown awarded by the Roman Senate to him who saved the life of a citizen on the field of battle.

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